A Navy hospital corpsman assigned to Camp Pendleton will be awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest medal for valor in combat, for his actions last year when a suicide bomber struck his convoy in southwestern Afghanistan.

Petty Officer 1st Class Benny Flores was seriously injured in the April 28, 2012, attack in the Zaranj district of Nimruz province, but he provided lifesaving medical care to several Marines and Afghan police, the Marine Corps announced.

Flores will receive the medal Friday during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton.

Marine Master Sgt. Scott Pruitt, a 38-year-old military accountant from Camp Pendleton, was killed in the ambush. He had volunteered for the combat tour, his first, on the eve of his retirement.

Michael M. Phillips, a Wall Street Journal reporter embedded with the Marines, wrote an eyewitness account of the bombing and Flores’ actions.

On April 20, Phillips was awarded the Major Megan McClung Award for reporting on Marines abroad for his article "Under Attack," the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation announced.

As the 2012 recipient of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation award, I was one of four judges who unanimously selected Phillips for the honor.

A complete list of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation awards recognizing academics, military personnel, writers and other artists for preserving Marine Corps history, traditions and culture can be found here.